From, The Whole History of Grandfather's Chair
                                  by Nathaniel Hawthorne 1840  Boston, E.P. Peabody

 Part 1 Chapter 10
"...Grandfather paused a moment and smiled, as if he had something very interesting to tell his auditors.  He then proceeded: "And now, Laurence, - now, Clara, - now, Charley, - now, my dear little Allee, - what chair do you think had been placed in the council chamber, for old Governor Bradstreet to take his seat in? Would you believe that it was this very chair in which Grandfather now sits, and of which he is telling you the history?"
"I am glad to hear it, with all my heart!" cried Charley, after a shout of delight. "I thought Grandfather had quite forgotten the chair."
"It was a solemn and affecting sight," said Grandfather, "when this venerable patriarch, with his white beard flowing down upon his breast, took his seat in his chair of state. Within his remembrance, and even since his mature age, the site where now stood the populace town had been a wild and forest-covered peninsula. The province, now so fertile and spotted with thriving villages, had been a desert wilderness. He was surrounded by a shouting multitude, most of whom had been born in the country which he had helped to found. They were of one generation, and he of another.  As the old man looked upon them, and beheld new faces everywhere, he must have felt that it was now time for him to go whither his brethren had gone before him."
"Were the former governors all dead and gone?" asked Laurence.
"All of them," replied Grandfather. "Winthrop had been dead forty years. Endicott died, a very old man, in 1665. Sir Henry Vane was beheaded; in London, at the beginning of the reign of Charles II.  ______, Dudley, Bellingham, and Leverett, who had all been governors of Massachusetts, were now likewise in their graves.  Old Simon Bradstreet was the sole representative of that departed brotherhood. There was no other public man remaining to connect the ancient system of government and manners with the new system which was about to take its place. The era of the Puritans was now completed."
"I am sorry for it!" observed Laurence; "for though they were so stern, yet it seems to me that there was something warm and real about them.  I think,Grandfather, that each of these old governors should have his statue set up in our State House, sculptured out of the hardest of New England granite."
"It would not be amiss, Laurence, " said Grandfather; but perhaps clay, or some other perishable. But let's go back to our chair. It was occupied by Governor Bradstreet from April, 1689, until May, 1692. Sir William Phipps then arrived in Boston with a new charter from King William and a commission to be governor."
"And what became of the chair? inquired Clara.
"The outward aspect of our chair," replied Grandfather, "was now somewhat the worse for its long and arduous services. It was considered hardly magnificent enough to be allowed to keep its place in the council chamber of Massachusetts.  In fact, it was banished as an article of useless lumber. But Sir William Phipps happened to see it, and, being much pleased with its construction, resolved to take the good old chair into his private mansion. Accordingly, with his own gubernatorial hands, he repaired one of its arms which had been slightly damaged."
"Why Grandfather, here is the very arm!" interrupted Charley, in great  wonderment. "And did Sir William Phipps put in these screws with his own hands?  I am sure he did it beautifully!  But how came a governor to know how to mend a chair?"
"I will tell you a story about the early life of Sir William Phipps," said Grandfather, "You will then perceive that he well knew how to use his hands."
So Grandfather related the wonderful and true tale of
The Sunken Treasure.
Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome, old fashioned room, with a large open cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a magnificent gold cup, with some other splendid articles of gold and silver plate. In another part of the room, opposite to a tall looking-glass, stands our beloved chair, newly polished, and adorned with a gorgeous cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold.  In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy fram, whose face has been roughened by northern tempeests and blackened by the burning sun of the West Indies.  He wears an immense periwig, flowing down over his shoulders. His coat has a wide embroidery of golden foliage; and his waistcoat, likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened with gold. His red, rough hands, which have done many a good day's work with the hammer and adze, are half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his wrists.  On a table lies his silver-hilted sword and in a corner of the room stands his gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully polished West India wood.
Somewhat such an aspect as this did Sir William present when he sat in Grandfather's chair after the king had appointed him governor of Massachusetts. Truly there was need that the old chair should be varnished and decorated with a crimson cushion, in order to make it suitable for such a magnificent-looking personage.
But Sir William Phipps had not always worn a gold embroidered coat, nor always sat so much at his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. he was a poor man's son, and was born in the province of Maine, where he used to tend sheep upon the hills in his boyhood and youth.  Until he had grown to be a man, he did not even know how to read or write.  Tired of tending sheep, he next apprenticed himself to a ship carpenter, and spend about four years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak-trees into knees for vessels.
In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he came to Boston, and soon afterwards was married to a widow lady, who had property enough to set him up in business.  It was not long, however, before he lost all the money that he had aquired by his marriage, and became a poor man again. Still he was not discouraged. He often told his wife that some time or other, he should be very rich, and would build a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of Boston.  Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a fortune-teller to inquire his destiny. It was his own energy and spirit of enterprise, and his resolution to lead an industrious life, that made him look forward with so much confidence to better days.
Several years passed away, and William Phipps had not yet gained the riches which he promised to himself.  During this time he had begun to follow the sea for a living. In the year 1684 he happened to hear of a Spanish ship which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and which was supposed to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phipps went to the place in a small vessel, hoping that he should be able to recover some of the treasure from the wreck.  He did not succeed, however, in fishing up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of his voyage. But before he returned he was told of another Spanish ship, or galleon, which had been cast away near Porto de la Plata. She had now lain as much as fifty years beneath the waves.  This old ship had been laden with immense wealth; and hitherto, nobody had thought of the possibility of recovering any part of it from the deep sea which was rolling and tossing it about. But though it was now an old story, and the most aged people had almost forgotten that such a vessel had been wrecked, William Phipps resolved that the sunken treasure should again be brought to light. He went to London and obtained admittance to King James, who had not yet been driven from his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth that was lying at the bottom of the sea.  King James listened with attention, and thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury with Spanish gold. He appointed Wiliam Phipps to be captain of a vessel called the Rose Algier, carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men. So now he was Captain Phipps of the English navy. Captain Phipps sailed from England in the Rose Algier, and cruised for nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of the Spanish ship.  But the sea is so wide and eep that it is no easy matter to
discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies. The prospect of success seemed very small; and most people would have thought that Captain Phipps was as far from having money enough to build a "fair brick house" as he was while he tended sheep.
The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, and gave up all hope of making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted to compel Captain Phipps to turn pirate. There was a much better prospect they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels which still sailed in the sea than by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath the waves full half a century. They broke out in open mutiny; but were finally mastered by Phipps, and compelled to obey his orders. It would have been dangerous, however, to contunue much longer at sea with such a crew of mutinous sailors; and besides, the Rose Algier was leaky and unseaworthy. So Captain Phipps judged it best to return to England. Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks, a few leagues from Porto de la Plata.
On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phipps solicited the king to let him have another vessel and send him back again to the West Indies. But King James, who had probably expected that the Rose Algier would return laden with gold, refused to have anything more to do with the affair. Phipps might never have been able to renew the search if the Duke of Albemarle and some other noblemen had not lent their assistance.  They fitted out a ship, and gave the command to Captain Phipps.  He sailed from England, and arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, where he took an adze and assisted his men to build a large boat.
The boat was intended for going closer to the reef of rocks than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished, the captain sent several men in it to examine the spot where the Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked.  They were accompanied by some Indians, who were skillful divers, and could go down a great way into the depths of the seas. The boat's crew proceeded to the reel of rocks, and rowed round and round it a great many times. They gazed down into the water, which was so transparent that it seemed as if they could have seen the gold and silver at the bottom, had there been any of those precious metals there.  Nothing, however, could they see; nothing more valuable than a curious sea shrub, which was growing beneath the water, in a crevice of the reef of rocks. It flaunted to and from with the swell and reflux of the waves, and looked as bright and beautiful as if its leaves were gold.
"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor; and then he spoke to one of the Indian divers, "Dive down and bring me that pretty sea shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find."
Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding the sea shrub in his hand.  But he had learned some news at the bottom of the sea.
"There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment he had drawn breath, "some great cannon, among the rocks, near where the shrub was growing."
No sooner had he spoken than the English sailors knew that they had found the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked, so many years before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the boat's side and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken cannon.  In a few moments one of them rose above the water with a heavy lump of silver in his
arms.  The single lump was worth more than a thousand dollars. The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed back as speedily as they could, being in haste to inform Captain Phipps of their good luck.
But, confidently as the captain had hoped to find the Spanish wreck, yet, now that it was really found, the news seemed too good to be true. he could not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of silver.
"Thanks be to God!" then cries Captain Phipps.  "We shall every man of us make our fortunes!"
Hereupon the captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the sea. Up came the treasure in abundance.  Now they beheld a table of solid silver, once the property of an old Spanish grandee. Now they found a sacramental vessel, which had been destined as a gift to some Catholic church. Now they drew up a golden cup, for for the King of Spain to drink his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its former owner had been grasping the precious cup, and was drawn up along with it. Now their rakes of fishing-lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion. There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and sparkling, so that it is a wonder how their radiance could have been concealed.
There is something sad and terrible in the idea of snatching all this wealth from the devouring ocean, which had possessed it for such a length of years. It seems as if men had no right to make themselves rich with it. It ought to have been left with the skeletons of the ancient Spaniards, who had drowned when the ship was wrecked, and whose bones were now scattered among the gold
and silver.
But Captain Phipps and his crew were troubled with no such thoughts as these.  After a day or two they lighted on another part of the wreck, where they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could have guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the salt water, they had become covered over with a crust which had the appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces with hammers and axes. When this was done, a stream of silver dollars gushed out upon the deck of the vessel.
The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious stones, and all, was estimated at more than two millions of dollars.  It was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. A sea-captain, who had assisted Phipps in the enterprise, utterly lost his reason at the sight of it. He died two years afterwards, still raving about the treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would have been better for this man if he had left the skeletons of the shipwrecked Spaniards in quiet possession of their wealth.
Captain Phipps and his men continued to fish  up plate, bullion, and dollars, as plentifully as ever till their provisions grew short.  Then, as they could not feed upon gold and silver any more than old King Midas could, they found it necessary to go in search of better sustenance.  Phipps resolved to return to England.  He arrived there in 1687, and was received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and other English lords who had fitted out the vessel.  Well they might rejoice; for they took by far the greater part of the treasure to themselves. The captain's share, however, was enough to make him comfortable for the rest of his days.  It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife, by building a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of Boston. The Duke of Albemarle sent Mrs. Phipps a magnificent gold cup, worth at least five thousand dollars. Before Captain Phipps left London, King James made him a knight; so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter who had formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his return as the rich and famous Sir William Phipps.

Part 1 Chapter 11
"Sir William Phipps," continued Grandfather, "was too active and adventurous a man to sit still in the quiet enjoyment of his good fortune. In the year 1690 he went on a military expedition against the French colonies in America, conquered the whole province of Acadia, and returned to Boston with a great deal of plunder."
"Why, Grandfather, he was the greatest man that ever sat in the chair!" cried Charley.
"Ask Laurence what he thinks, " replied Grandfather, with a smile, "Well, in the same year, Sir William took command of an expedition against Quebec, but did not succeed in capturing the city. In 1692, being then in London, King William III, appointed him governor of Massachusetts.  And now, my dear children, having followed Sir William Phipps through all his adventures and
hardships till we find him comfortably seated in Grandfather's chair, we will here bid him farewell. May he be as happy in ruling a people as he was while he tended sheep!"
Charley, whose fancy had been greatly taken by the adventurous disposition of Sir William Phipps, was eager to know how he had acted and what happened to him while he held the office of governor. But Grandfather had made up his mind to tell no more stories for the present.
"Possibly one of these days, I may go on with the adventures of the chair," said he.  "But its history becomes very obscure just at this point; and I must search into some old books and manuscripts before proceeding further. Besides, it is now a good time to pause in our narrative; because the new charter, which Sir William Phipps brought over from England, formed a very important epoch in the history of the province."
"Really, Grandfather," observed Laurence, "this seems to be the most remarkable chair in the world. Its history cannot be told without intertwining it with the lives of distinguished men and the great events that have befallen the country."
"True, Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling; "we must write a book with some such title as this; Memoirs of My Own Times, by Grandfather's Chair."
"That would be beautiful!" exclaimed Laurence, clapping his hands.
"But, after all," continued Grandfather, "any other chair, if it possessed memory and a hand to write its recollections, could record stranger stories than any that I have told you. From generation to generation, a chair sits familiarly in the midst of human interests, and is witness to the most secret and confidential intercourse that mortal man can hold with his fellow.  The human heart may best be read in the fireside chair.  And as to external events, Grief and Joy keep a continual vicissitude around it and within it.  Now we see the glad face and glowing form of Joy, sitting merrily in the old chair, and throwing a warm firelight radiance over all the household. Now, while we thought not of it, the dark-clad mourner, Grief, has stolen into the place of Joy, but not to retain it long.  The imagination can hardly grasp so wide a subject as is embraced in the experience of a family chair."
"It makes my breath flutter, my heart thrill, to think of it," said Laurence. "Yes, a family chair must have a deeper history than a chair of state."
"Oh yes!" cried Clara, expressing a woman's feeling on the point in question; "the history of a country is not nearly so interesting as that of a single family would be."
"But the history of a country is more easily told," said Grandfather, "So, if we proceed with our narrative of the chair, I shall still confine myself to its connection with public events."
Good old Grandfather now rose and quitted the room, while the children remained gazing at the chair. Laurence, so vivid was his conception of past times, would hardly have deemed it strange if its former occupants, one after another, had resumed the seat which they had each left vacant such a dim length of years ago.
First the gently and lovely Lady Arbella would have been seen in the old chair, almost sinking out of its arms for very weakness; then Roger Williams, in his cloak and band, earnest, energetic, and benevolent; then the figure of Anne Hutchinson, with the like gesture as when she presided at the assemblages of women; then the dark, intellectual face of Vane, "young in years, but in sage counsel old." Next would have appeared the successive governors, Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham, and Endicott, who sat in the chair while it was a chair of state. Then its ample seat would have been pressed by the comfortable, rotund corporation of the honest mint-master. Then the half-frenzied shape of Mary Dyer, the persecuted Quaker woman, clad in sackcloth and ashes, would have rested in it for a moment.  Then, the holy, apostolic form of Eliot would have sanctified it.  Then would have arisen, like the shade of departed Puritanism, the venerable dignity of the white-bearded Governor Bradstreet. Lastly, on the gorgeous crimson cushion of Grandfather's chair, would have shone the purple and gold magnificence of Sir William Phipps.
But all these, with the other historic personages, in the midst of whom the chair had so often stood, had passed, both in substance and shadow, from the scene of ages. yet here stood the chair, with the old Lincoln coat of arms, and the oaken flowers and foliage, and fierce lion's head at the summit, the whole, apparently, in as perfect preservation as when it had first been placed in the Earl of Lincoln's hall.  And what vast changes of society and of nations had been wrought by sudden convulsions or by slow degrees since that era!
"This chair had stood firm when the thrones of kings were overturned!" thought Laurence. "Its oaken frame has proved stronger than many frames of government!"
More the thoughtful and imaginative boy might have mused; but now a large yellow cat, a great favorite with all the children, leaped in at the open window.  Perceiving that Grandfather's chair was empty, and having often before experienced its comforts, puss laid herself quietly down upon the cushion. Laurence, Clara, Charley, and little Alice all laughed at the idea of such a successor to the worthies of old times.
"Pussy," said little Alice, putting out her hand, into which the cat laid a velvet paw, "you look very wise. Do tell us a story about Grandfather's Chair!"

Part 2 Chapter 2
"You recollect, my dear children," said Grandfather, "that we took leave of the chair in 1692, while it was occupied by Sir William Phipps.  This fortunate treasure-seeker, you will remember, had come over from England, with King William's commission to be governor of Massachusetts. Within the limits of this province were now included the old colony of Plymouth and the territories of Maine and Nova Scotia. Sir William Phipps had likewise brought a new charter from the king, which served instead of a constitution, and set forth the method in which the province was to be governed."
"Did the new charter allow the people all their former liberties?" inquired Laurence.
"No," replied Grandfather. "Under the first charter, the people had been the source of all power. Winthrop, Endicott, Bradstreet, and the rest of them had been governors by choice of the people, without any interference of the king. But henceforth the governor was to hold his station solely by the king's appointment and during his pleasure; and the same was the case with the lieutenant-governor and some other high officers.  The people, however, were still allowed to choose representatives; and the governor's council was chosen by the General Court."
"Would the inhabitants have elected Sir William Phipps, " asked Laurence, "if the choice of governor had been left to them?"
"He might probably have been a successful candidate," answered Grandfather; "for his adventures and military enterprises had gained him a sort of renown, which always goes a great way with the people. And he had many popular characteristics, - being a kind, warm-hearted man, not ashamed of his low origin nor haughty in his present elevation.  Soon after his arrival, he proved that he did not blush to recognize his former associates."
"How was that?" inquired Charley.
"He made a grand festival at his new brick house," said Grandfather, "and invited all the ship-carpenters of Boston to be his guests. At the head of the table in our great chair, sat Sir William Phipps himself, treating these hard-handed men as his brethren, cracking jokes with them and talking familiarly about old times. I know not whether he wore his embroidered dress; but I rather choose to imagine that he had on a suit of rough clothes, such as he used to labor in while he was Phipps the ship-carpenter."
"An aristocrat need not be ashamed of the trade," observed Laurence; "for the Czar Peter the Great once served an apprenticeship to it."
"Did Sir William Phipps make as good a governor as he was a ship-carpenter?" asked Charley.
"History says but little about his merits as a ship-carpenter," answered Grandfather; "but as a governor, a great deal of fault was found with him. Almost as soon as he assumed the government, he became engaged in a very frightful business, which might have perplexed a wiser and better cultivated head than his. This was the witchcraft delusion."
And here Grandfather gave his auditors such details of this melancholy affair as he thought it fit for them to know. They shuddered to hear that a frenzy, which led to the death of many innocent persons, had originated in the wicked arts of a few children. They belonged to the Rev. Mr. Parris, minister of Salem. These children complained of being pinched and pricked with pins, and otherwise tormented by the shapes of men and women, who were supposed to have power to haunt them invisibly, both in darkness and daylight. Often in the midst of their family and friends the children would pretend to be seized with strange convulsions, and would cry out that the witches were afflicting them. These stories spread abroad, and caused great tumult and alarm. From the foundation of New England, it had been the custom of the inhabitants, in all matters of doubt and difficulty, to look to their ministers for counsel. So they did now; but, unfortunately, the ministers and wise men were more deluded than the illiterate people. Cotton Mather, a very learned and eminent clergyman, believed that the whole country was full of witches and wizards, who had given up their hopes of heaven, and signed a covenant with the evil one.
Nobody could be certain that his nearest neighbor or most intimate friend was not guilty of this imaginary crime. The number of those who pretended to be afflicted by witchcraft grew daily more numerous; and they bore testimony against many of the best and worthiest people. A minister, named George Burroughs, was among the accused. In the months of August and September, 1692, he and nineteen other innocent men and women were put to death.  The place of execution was a high hill, on the outskirts of Salem; so that many of the surfferers, as they stood beneath the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town.  The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the madness.  The afflicted now grew bolder in their accusations. Many people of rank and wealth were either thrown into prison or compelled to flee for their lives. Among these were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the last of the Puritan governors.  Mr. Willard, a pious minister of Boston, was cried out upon as a wizard in open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minister of Beverly, was likewise accused.  Philip English, a rich merchant of Salem, found it necessary to take flight, leaving his property and business in confusion. But a short time afterwards, the Salem people were glad to invite him back.
"The boldest thing that the accusers did," continued Grandfather, "was to cry out against the governor's own beloved wife.  Yes, the lady of Sir William Phipps was accused of being a witch and of flying through the air to attend witch-meetings. When the governor heard this he probably trembled, so that our great chair shook beneath him."
"Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging closer to his knee, "Is it true that witches ever come in the night-time to frighten little children?"
"No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. "Even if there were any witches, they would flee away from the presence of a pure-hearted child. But there are none; and our forefathers soon became convinced that they had been led into a terrible delusion. All the prisoners on account of witchcraft were set free.  But the innocent dead could not be restored to life; and the hill where they were executed will always remind people of the saddest and most humiliating passage in our history."
Grandfather then said that the next remarkable event, while Sir William Phipps remained in the chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English fleet in 1693.  It brought an army which was intended for the conquest of Canada. But a malignant disease, more fatal than the small-pox, broke out among the soldiers and sailors, and destroyed the greater part of them.  The infection
spread into the town of Boston, and make much havoc there.  This dreadful sickness caused the governor and Sir Francis Wheeler, who was commander of the British forces, to give up all thoughts of attacking Canada.
"Soon after this," said Grandfather, "Sir William Phipps quarrelled with the captain of an English frigate, and also with the collector of Boston. Being a man of violent temper, he gave each of them a sound beating with his cane."
"He was a bold fellow," observed Charley, who was himself somewhat addicted to a similar mode of settling disputes.
"More bold than wise," replied Grandfather; "for complaints were carried to the king, and Sir William Phipps was summoned to England to make the best answer he could. Accordingly he went to London, where, in 1695, he was seized with a malignant fever, of which he died. had he lived longer, he would probably have gone again in search of sunken treasure. He had heard of a Spanish ship which was cast away in 1502, during the lifetime of Columbus, Bovadilla, Roldan, and many other Spaniards were lost in her, together with the immense wealth of which they had robbed the South American kings."
"Why, Grandfather!" exclaimed Laurence, "what magnificent ideas the governor had!  Only think of recovering all that old treasure which had lain almost two centuries under the sea!  Methinks Sir William ought to have been buried in the ocean when he died, so that he might have gone down among the sunken ships and cargoes of treasure which he was always dreaming about in his lifetime."
"He was buried in one of the crowded cemeteries of London," said Grandfather. "As he left no children, his estate was inherited by his nephew, from whom is descended the present Marquis of Normandy. The noble Marquis is not aware, perhaps, that the prosperity of his family originated in the successful enterprise of a New England ship-carpenter."This is untrue.  See information on Sir William Phips descendants.